Coach Smart to tighten up rotation this time??

[t-rex]

I know we've all heard this song and dance from Coach Smart before, but according to the Sacramento Bee, Coach Smart says he's going to stick to a rotation and pee off those that don't get to play. Does anyone really believe he will do this, and if so who do you think gets the shaft? I"m guessing Jimmer, Outlaw, Garcia, and possibly James Johnson.

Sacbee Article http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/18/5123329/smart-to-give-some-kings-more.html

I personally would like to see Brooks on the pine a little more and dare I say it, Jimmer start at PG with IT and Thorton providing that spark off the bench.

 

[The_Jamal]

While I'm pleased he's finally woken up, what the hell took so long? If he knows a tightened rotation leads to wins, why not do it say... at the start of the year?

 

[Bricklayer]

I know we've all heard this song and dance from Coach Smart before, but according to the Sacramento Bee, Coach Smart says he's going to stick to a rotation and pee off those that don't get to play. Does anyone really believe he will do this, and if so who do you think gets the shaft? I"m guessing Jimmer, Outlaw, Garcia, and possibly James Johnson.

Sacbee Article http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/18/5123329/smart-to-give-some-kings-more.html

I personally would like to see Brooks on the pine a little more and dare I say it, Jimmer start at PG with IT and Thorton providing that spark off the bench.

I don't trust anything he says particularly, but this can only be a good thing. He made some noises about it after the Cleveland game. At the time I thought he was using it as an excuse for having ****ed up by benching Reke for too long. Now he's making more noises about it after a Washington game when he actually rode his big horses and completely cut out guys like Thornton and TRob. Maybe something is actually going on here. I'm just afraid that he has such a short attention span that if we have one bad loss using real rotations it will send him off spinning chasing the next rainbow. He has to understand this isn't a gimmick or a trick, this is just how its done. Play Reke and Cousins as long as they can go. Find 6-7 support guys a night. Not 8. Not 9. Not 10. Play 8-9, ride it, and let them develop some chemsitry.

 

[jalfa]

I know we've all heard this song and dance from Coach Smart before, but according to the Sacramento Bee, Coach Smart says he's going to stick to a rotation and pee off those that don't get to play. Does anyone really believe he will do this, and if so who do you think gets the shaft? I"m guessing Jimmer, Outlaw, Garcia, and possibly James Johnson.

Sacbee Article http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/18/5123329/smart-to-give-some-kings-more.html

I personally would like to see Brooks on the pine a little more and dare I say it, Jimmer start at PG with IT and Thorton providing that spark off the bench.

shafting Jimmer after he rode him for the entire 2nd half and he pretty much saved the Kings collected ***es would be really weird. he should be one of the greater beneficiaries of this thing. personally, I'd be satisfied if Smart could decide on one of the small chuckers and stop this "well, you haven't played at all in the first half, you should definitely play most of the second." thing he has going on.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

ya i was for the first time ever actually impressed with his post game conference. talking about how hes gonna tighten the rotations and not everyone is gonna be happy on the team oh well

 

[Spike]

I continue to be skeptical, but if he does it, then good for him, and more importantly, good for the team. Part of their inconsistent play comes from inconsistent minutes. Unless he was simply talking about Garcia and Outlaw, which really isn't too bad, but not enough. I'm guessing either Brooks or IT will see their minutes go down as well, but that's just wishful thinking on my part. (Probably Brooks.)

 

[Kings Faithful]

I never want to see T-Rob and Chuck Hayes on the floor at the same time. I would rather develop a T-Rob/JT big man duo than see Chuch Hayes out there. Hayes should only see the floor in specialized instances in order to stop dominating big men from scoring at will on us.

 

[twslam07]

This is good news, but let's see if he is a man of his word. I would like to see this rotation...

PG - Fredette (20 min)/Thomas (20 min)/Evans (8 min)
SG - Evans (18 min)/Thornton (30 min)
SF - Salmons (36 min)/Evans (12 min)
PF - Thompson (14 min)/Robinson (23 min)/Hayes (11 min)
C - Cousins (37 min)/Thompson (11 min)

Evans - 38 minutes
Cousins - 37 minutes
Salmons - 36 minutes
Thornton - 30 minutes
Thompson - 25 minutes
Robinson - 23 minutes
Fredette - 20 minutes
Thomas - 20 minutes
Hayes - 11 minutes

That's 9 players total and I would opt to not play Hayes when we don't need him which would give us an 8 man rotation.

 

[jcwkings]

I'd like to see Jimmer start, this team isn't making the playoffs(barring a miracle), so lets see if Jimmer is up to the task, he is the perfect fit next to Evans and Cousins, and his defense has improved, it can only get better with consistent minutes and playing against top talents. IT and Thornton are perfect sparks off the bench along with Robinson. We should use Brooks and even Thornton to add size to our frontline, Salmons has had a nice little comeback season, so keep him, or trade him while his stock is relatively up. I think the future of our team could be something like this

Pg: Jimmer(or someone who is a spot up shooter that can handle)
sg: Evans
sf: Defensive 3 pt spot shooter
pf: JT(or shot blocking pf or Cousins)
C: Cousins( or shot blocking center ala Tyson Chandler or something, probably what i would prefer, although cuz would lose his quickness advantage that he has against C's)

Bench

IT
T Rob
Hayes
fill bench with roleplayers

 

[Kings Faithful]

This is good news, but let's see if he is a man of his word. I would like to see this rotation...

PG - Fredette (20 min)/Thomas (20 min)/Evans (8 min)
SG - Evans (18 min)/Thornton (30 min)
SF - Salmons (36 min)/Evans (12 min)
PF - Thompson (14 min)/Robinson (23 min)/Hayes (11 min)
C - Cousins (37 min)/Thompson (11 min)

Evans - 38 minutes
Cousins - 37 minutes
Salmons - 36 minutes
Thornton - 30 minutes
Thompson - 25 minutes
Robinson - 23 minutes
Fredette - 20 minutes
Thomas - 20 minutes
Hayes - 11 minutes

That's 9 players total and I would opt to not play Hayes when we don't need him which would give us an 8 man rotation.

I do not want to see Tyreke as the SF ever. He is the primary ball handler and having him on the floor at the same time as IT and Thornton (which is guaranteed to happen under your rotations) is a recipe for disaster. In fact, Tyreke and IT on the floor at the same time should be kept to an absolute minimum. IT should come off the BENCH for Tyreke. Also, we need to choose between Brooks and Jimmer as Tyreke's on the court buddy. I'd go with Jimmer based on his shooting ability and youth, however I don't exactly think he is 100% ready for a starting role. The only reason I would start him over Thornton is because IT and Jimmer on the floor at the same time is terrible from a defensive standpoint. Opposing SG's would torch us. AB should be traded (maybe with Hayes) for some size at the PF or Center spots.

 

[Kings Faithful]

I'd like to see Jimmer start, this team isn't making the playoffs(barring a miracle), so lets see if Jimmer is up to the task, he is the perfect fit next to Evans and Cousins, and his defense has improved, it can only get better with consistent minutes and playing against top talents. IT and Thornton are perfect sparks off the bench along with Robinson. We should use Brooks and even Thornton to add size to our frontline, Salmons has had a nice little comeback season, so keep him, or trade him while his stock is relatively up. I think the future of our team could be something like this

Lol...

 

[Arkitect]

I do not want to see Tyreke as the SF ever. He is the primary ball handler and having him on the floor at the same time as IT and Thornton (which is guaranteed to happen under your rotations) is a recipe for disaster. In fact, Tyreke and IT on the floor at the same time should be kept to an absolute minimum. IT should come off the BENCH for Tyreke. Also, we need to choose between Brooks and Jimmer as Tyreke's on the court buddy. I'd go with Jimmer based on his shooting ability and youth, however I don't exactly think he is 100% ready for a starting role. The only reason I would start him over Thornton is because IT and Jimmer on the floor at the same time is terrible from a defensive standpoint. Opposing SG's would torch us. AB should be traded (maybe with Hayes) for some size at the PF or Center spots.

The problem is we have only one SF on the team, JJ and he kills us offensively. Someone has to play SF when Salmons is not on the court. Reke is the only one with the size, strength, and speed to do it with any chance of being useful. Unfortunately that will lead to IT and Reke being on the court at the same time, but hopefully for a limited time. We need at least 2 trades to consolidate our talent.

 

[Bricklayer]

The great truth that Smart has never resolved/worked around is that Tyreke Evans is a SG, and Marcus Thornton is a SG, and there are only 48min of SG time a game. So in order to get both guys 30+ min, somebody, namely Reke, has to be shifted out of position.

I happen to think Thornton is a good SG. I also happen to think his trade value would have been much higher before we trashed it this season. I nonetheless don't think a pure SG, and that is what he is -- too small to play SF, no passing skills/instincts to play the PG -- can work as our 3rd weapon. If he could be truned into a SF the team would take a big step forward jsut on balance alone.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Lol...

I think he meant TRADE Brooks and Thornton to add size to our frontline.

 

[rainmaker]

It's not just tightening the rotation, it's tightening the rotation AND still managing sub patterns coherently, which I'm surprised no one here has brought up.

It was a great sign Smart road his horses last game, as well as tightened the rotation, but there's the aspect that he played Reke all 24 2nd half mins and Cuz all but two, and that was due foul trouble.

Smart needs to find a way to tighten the rotation yet still spill Reke/Cuz for 4-5 mins per half. Problem is he's literally never done that aside from a 2-3 game stretch where he subbed Reke/Cuz back in at the 8 min mark in the 4th. He's too concerned with letting the bench unit get their time, get a rhythm and impact the game, instead of just having them spell a starter for 4-5 mins and sit back down.

As for believing anything which comes out of Smart's mouth, I won't, just as I don't believe politicians which he's more of than a good coach. I'll believe it when I see it implemented for a 2-3 week stretch. I don't take anything, anyone in this franchise says at face value.

 

[upinsmoke]

The problem is we have only one SF on the team, JJ and he kills us offensively. Someone has to play SF when Salmons is not on the court. Reke is the only one with the size, strength, and speed to do it with any chance of being useful. Unfortunately that will lead to IT and Reke being on the court at the same time, but hopefully for a limited time. We need at least 2 trades to consolidate our talent.

That's right, Here are our options Jimmer, IT, Brooks, MT. Pick one or two and trade the others packaged with maybe a Hayes or JT and get a really good player back.

 

[twslam07]

I do not want to see Tyreke as the SF ever. He is the primary ball handler and having him on the floor at the same time as IT and Thornton (which is guaranteed to happen under your rotations) is a recipe for disaster. In fact, Tyreke and IT on the floor at the same time should be kept to an absolute minimum. IT should come off the BENCH for Tyreke. Also, we need to choose between Brooks and Jimmer as Tyreke's on the court buddy. I'd go with Jimmer based on his shooting ability and youth, however I don't exactly think he is 100% ready for a starting role. The only reason I would start him over Thornton is because IT and Jimmer on the floor at the same time is terrible from a defensive standpoint. Opposing SG's would torch us. AB should be traded (maybe with Hayes) for some size at the PF or Center spots.

I don't think anyone wants to see Evans at SF, but with the way our roster is constructed, it is naive to think that he won't see time there. We have 3 PGs who all deserve at least 15-20 mpg and 2 SGs who both deserve over 30 mpg. In my scenario, I eliminated Brooks from the rotation which makes it a 4 guard rotation but that is still not enough as we have two SGs who deserve over 30 mpg. Evans is going to have to see time at SF. There is just no way of getting around it unless we have injuries.

 

[rainmaker]

Lol.

Uh, yeah, sure Keith.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

so i think Keith Smart is a little confused with the definition of the word "tighten"

 

[CruzDude]

So, 3 weeks later and Coach has "tightened up" his rotation eh? Limited playing time? Are we still talking about the Sacramento Kings? If ever there was a smoke screen, Smart has blown it in our faces. Every bloody night, 10-11 players yet every bloody night (almost every) wholesale bench subs kill a decent game and dig a big hole. Coach, I guess you haven't noticed but that doesn't work.

I know Hayes is the smartest tactical center in the league but he IS ONLY 6-6 with no hops!. Ya gotta have a rebounder in at same time: Jt, Cuz? JJ? hmmm

If Brooks is not helping, dribbles too much and doesn't score much why keep pushing him in there? Jimmer is there and showing improvement in all areas.....if only he could get consistent minutes.

JT does well playing the 5 without Cuz. So why not start JJ at the 4 with Cuz and bring in JT for big minutes off the bench at the 5 and then the 4?

TRob is a rookie and coming along. He can be the best guy down low on defense and the offensive boards but needs more minutes to work out his game. No one on the team has a motor like TRob's and plays above the rim like TRob. So then why don't we see more of him?

The SF slot is still a problem yet Honeycutt sits in street clothes every game and has the hops, shots and motor but gets no minutes. Whose decision is that?

PG. Really is IT and Jimmer but "whose on first?". Who has better court vision and is more likely to make other players better and not over dribble? hmmmm.

I just had confession with bajaden last night and realize the Kings season is over. Hell it's been over for awhile. It doesn't have to be but the coach has lead the team down a rabbit hole, and hello Toto, we're not in Kansas (or games) anymore. Nothing will change, nothing is improving. I'm still a fan but it just hurts more than ever before.

 

[upinsmoke]

Keep your head up Cruz we're all with you.

Nice read here for these tough days. http://www.sactownroyalty.com/2013/2/6/3962848/god-made-a-kings-fan

 

[Glenn]

CruzDude and bajaden just realized the season is over. I would like to type a series of "ha!" but won't out of respect.

It was over a month into the season. Roughly. One could say it was over when Smart's contract was extended. It became obvious that Keith Smart, even with the great help we could give him, has no ability to learn. I take that back. He has some ability to learn but he has to be in the learning process in a lower level Big 10-like school and not the NBA. Do people remember the Peter Principle? Smart, in a sane world, would have risen only as far as a losing team in the Big 10. He has made some moves in the proper direction but they are inadequate and sooooo slow to happen. He has done good work with Cuz although I wonder what a better coach would have accomplished. His accomplishment has been to keep Cuz in the game longer. I suspect everything else came from Cliff Ray but I think Cliff as well as everyone else in the organization not named Maloof has been operating with one arm tied behind his/her back. Let us try to forget the players whose careers were held back by incompetence either in coaching or in their selection to this team in the first place.

What was he doing sitting on the bench as an NBA assistant coach? He learned nothing and although most of us don't like Nellie-ball, Nellie-ball is better than Smart-ball and I don't have a clue as to why Smart could not insert an adequate version of Nellie-ball. Did he look at how other coaches coached? He had 82 games a year to do that. He is not bright or he would know MUCH more. Face it.

I don't know if Stern or a portion of the BOG has compassion but we, the KingsFans, deserve some compassion. We lost a year. A whole damn year. I never thought this could happen in pro sports but here it is right in River City. The only good that can come of this year, and it is not a small deal, is if the Maloofs are gone and the team stays here. I think most of us would consider this tragedy of a year a worthwhile investment to have an organization that can compete with most of the rest of the league on an equal footing. Do not forget this.

I want to watch good Kings basketball and after 5 years of putrid teams, I look forward to the probability that everything could change. IT IS PROBABLE and maybe it is even likely. If it happens, pat Mike on the back, pat CD on the back and everyone else involved in the huge fan based effort to not only salvage a team but improve a team. As to KJ, let's erect a nice bronze statue but remember he is the extraordinary figurehead who couldn't have accomplished much without the grassroots effort powering the engine to keep the team here.

 

[kennadog]

Keep your head up Cruz we're all with you.

Nice read here for these tough days. http://www.sactownroyalty.com/2013/2/6/3962848/god-made-a-kings-fan

Thanks for posting this. I am a Kings fan standing strong, because I am but one of many.

 

[bajaden]

CruzDude and bajaden just realized the season is over. I would like to type a series of "ha!" but won't out of respect.

It was over a month into the season. Roughly. One could say it was over when Smart's contract was extended. It became obvious that Keith Smart, even with the great help we could give him, has no ability to learn. I take that back. He has some ability to learn but he has to be in the learning process in a lower level Big 10-like school and not the NBA. Do people remember the Peter Principle? Smart, in a sane world, would have risen only as far as a losing team in the Big 10. He has made some moves in the proper direction but they are inadequate and sooooo slow to happen. He has done good work with Cuz although I wonder what a better coach would have accomplished. His accomplishment has been to keep Cuz in the game longer. I suspect everything else came from Cliff Ray but I think Cliff as well as everyone else in the organization not named Maloof has been operating with one arm tied behind his/her back. Let us try to forget the players whose careers were held back by incompetence either in coaching or in their selection to this team in the first place.

What was he doing sitting on the bench as an NBA assistant coach? He learned nothing and although most of us don't like Nellie-ball, Nellie-ball is better than Smart-ball and I don't have a clue as to why Smart could not insert an adequate version of Nellie-ball. Did he look at how other coaches coached? He had 82 games a year to do that. He is not bright or he would know MUCH more. Face it.

I don't know if Stern or a portion of the BOG has compassion but we, the KingsFans, deserve some compassion. We lost a year. A whole damn year. I never thought this could happen in pro sports but here it is right in River City. The only good that can come of this year, and it is not a small deal, is if the Maloofs are gone and the team stays here. I think most of us would consider this tragedy of a year a worthwhile investment to have an organization that can compete with most of the rest of the league on an equal footing. Do not forget this.

I want to watch good Kings basketball and after 5 years of putrid teams, I look forward to the probability that everything could change. IT IS PROBABLE and maybe it is even likely. If it happens, pat Mike on the back, pat CD on the back and everyone else involved in the huge fan based effort to not only salvage a team but improve a team. As to KJ, let's erect a nice bronze statue but remember he is the extraordinary figurehead who couldn't have accomplished much without the grassroots effort powering the engine to keep the team here.

Let me clarify! I realized the season was over quite a long time ago, and said as much on this fourm. Cruzdude, who is good friend, was still trying to be optimistic, and hoping for a turnaround. His reference to me, was that he finally came to the realization, with some encouragement from me, that the season was truely over.

 

[hrdboild]

All the mismanagement bothers me less this season considering the source of the problem will be gone (one way or another) when the season is over. Either we get new owners who care about improving the team or the team goes to Seattle and it becomes someone else's problem. Obviously I'd rather have a bad team to fret over than no team, but it's out of my hands. The season is already over but there's a lot of little things to root for -- Cousins growing past his struggles with authority, Tyreke maintaining his improved shooting stroke, Jimmer proving that he's an NBA player, TRob learning to slow down and utilize his athletic gifts in a productive way. That's really all I care about the rest of the way. The games themselves are typically a mixed bag with moments of inspired play broken up by long stretches of frustration. But it's all entertaining in a soap-opera kind of way. And this has been an unusually entertaining NCAA season and March Madness is right around the corner.